Strong Wind — Southern Franklin, Maine

2021-03-29 · Southern Franklin, Maine

Event narrative

Wind gusts estimated to be around 50 mph were impacting the region through the morning hours. An eastern white pine tree snapped at approximately 8:53 AM EST at Knolton Corner Road in North Chesterville. Large tree branches feel on a vehicle passing by with one of them hitting the roof of the driver side. The driver died of injuries sustained by the impact of the tree branch.

Wider weather episode

Strong northwest winds developed in the morning behind a departing cold front. The surface low continued to deepen across the Canadian Maritimes to the northeast increasing the pressure gradient forcing. The strong late March sun also allowed for mixing during the daylight hours which brought mixed a strong low level jet down to the surface. Widespread 50 mph wind gusts occurred with some local gusts on the lee-side of the White and Western Maine Mountains gusting near 70 mph. Scattered power outages were reported across Maine with approximately 60,000 outages. One fatality was reported in Farmington due to a downed tree on their vehicle.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 940481. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.